10 Great Gift Ideas for Kids - Holiday 2019

Finding gifts for kids can be somewhat challenging, especially if you are unsure what the child likes. We put together a list to help you find that perfect tech gift for a child of any age. From STEM toys to toys that are just plain fun these are the top tech gifts for kids. 

LEGO Hiden Side Augmented Reality Playsets

LEGO has taken its buildable playsets to a whole new level with its line of Lego Hidden Side playsets. Build them the traditional way and then children can a whole new type of augmented reality play with the LEGO Hidden Side app. With the app, your child’s iOS or Android device becomes a ghost detector that they can use to catch and battle ghosts, among other activities. Playsets include J.B.’s Ghost Lab, Wrecked Shrimp Boat, Paranormal Intercept Bus and the Newbury Haunted High School, among the eight sets available.

For ages 5+

Price: starting at $19.99 on Lego, check price on Amazon

LeapFrog LeapStart Go System

Educational, interactive, and fun all rolled into one. The LeapFrog LeapStart Go stylus interacts with special books to allow curious children to learn on their own. The stylus has a display on top and a built-in camera at the tip, which reads nearly invisible dots that are printed on each page. As it “reads” the page, the stylus launches activities based on where it is pointed. Activities can range from audio-based games to short videos displayed on the stylus’ display. The stylus is lightweight and easy for small hands to use.

Leapfrog offers a collection of books using special paper the stylus can read. They currently offer 49 books covering preschool through first-grade curriculum. Each book includes at least 30 activities. Topics include the solar system, human body, vocabulary words, prehistoric times, and more. One book comes in the box, additional books are sold separately. 

For ages 4-7

Price: $49.99 on Leapfrog, check price on Amazon

Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay Hybrid Camera

Kids will love this combination digital and instant film camera, the Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay. As soon as they take a picture, they can print or edit before printing. Add a mustache, speech bubble, frame or filter before hitting print. The 4.9 MP photos can also be saved to the camera of a removable MicroSD card for further sharing on social media. The Instax Mini LiPlay can also be paired with a phone to control the camera, edit photos and print photos taken with their phone.

As a camera, it has a 4.9MP sensor, a fast f/2.0 lens, and three flash modes -- auto flash, forced flash and suppressed flash. And using the microphone button, you can attach a recording to a photo. When you make a print, a QR code is printed to the back of your photo and any time you want to hear the audio attached to the photo, you simply scan the code with your phone.

Its small portable size allows you to bring it anywhere and the 2.7-inch LCD screen on the back lets you compose, review, add filters to your photos. On the front is a selfie mirror to make sure you capture everyone in the image. 

The printer prints size 54 x 85 mm with an image size of 46 x 62 mm in about 12 seconds. The Instax Mini instant film costs approximately 60 cents per print (check price on Amazon).

For ages 7+

Price: 159 on Instax, check price on Amazon

Pai Technology Botzees Programmable Robot

Botzees is an augmented reality robotics kit that allows kids to construct and program six functional robot models, including a dog, monkey, truck, and alligator. Models are constructed from 130 uniquely shaped blocks. Instructions are delivered through the Botzees AR app (free for iOS and Android). They press play to move through the building steps at their own pace.

Once the Botzee is built, it can be programmed to move, drum, dance, light up, and make sounds using the app. There are an additional 30 interactive AR puzzles to help them learn coding concepts like sequencing, looping, and conditional coding in an intuitive and visual way.

For ages 4-7

Price: $99.99 on Pai Technology, check price on Amazon

Hot Wheels id Smart Track Kit 

Hot Wheels has taken their car tracks to a whole new level with the id Smart Track Kit. Using the track pieces and the free Hot Wheels id Digital app kids can build more than 20 track configurations. After the track is built, kids scan their car with the app to measure their car's performance, including miles driven, races won, stunts performed, and highest speeds reached. The app only works with id cars, but the track works with any Hot Wheels car.

The kit comes with 16 Hot Wheels assorted track pieces, including one Hot Wheels id Race Portal. Plus, two exclusive Hot Wheels id cars are included: Rally Finale and Super Blitzen. 

For ages 8+

Price: $179.99 on Mattel, check price on Amazon

SteelSeries Arctis 7 Gaming Headset

If the kids on your list is a gamer, they will definitely appreciate a nice wireless gaming headset, like the SteelSeries Arctis 7. It has AirWeave Ear Cushions that keep ears cool and dry and 24-hours of battery life for extended gameplay. Reviewers love the sound quality and ultra-low latency. And, with support for DTX Headphone:X v2.0, you can rely on sound for positional cues.

The headset has a range of up to 12 feet and an onboard dial that allows you to mix games sounds with audio chat the way you want to hear it. The Arctis 7 is compatible with PC, Mac, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and mobile phones, but not Xbox.

For ages 8+

Price: $149.99 on SteelSeries, check price on Amazon

Razor Hovertrax 2.0 Hoverboard

Hoverboards are a crazy amount of fun, but can be expensive. We found a well-built but relatively inexpensive starter model, the Razor Hovertrax 2.0. It has a built-in stabilizer and comes in training mode out of the box, which enables even young kids to achieve balance at safe speeds. In normal mode, the Hovertrax 2.0 moves up to 8mph and has a run time of about an hour of continuous use. It has a max weight of 220 pounds, so even adults can get in on the fun.

The Hovertrax 2.0 has LED running lights for nighttime safety. And, it meets the UL-2272 safety standard. 

For ages 8+

Price: $299.99 on Razor, check price on Amazon

Sky Viper Dash Nano Drone

Kids find drones incredibly fun, but inevitable they will crash it. So buying an inexpensive yet durable model, like this Sky Viper Dash Nano, is the best choice.

But the Dash Nano isn’t just cheap and durable. It gets high marks for easy flying with its automatic mode and even has a dedicated Stunt button that enables pilots to perform flips and barrel rolls. For more proficient pilots, there’s also a manual flight mode.

At just 5 x 2.5 x 7 inches, the Dash Nano fits into the palm of your hand. It’s so small that it’s perfect for flying indoors. It flies for 8-10 minutes and takes 15-20 minutes to fully charge.

For ages 12+

Price: $14.99 on Sky-Viper, check price on Amazon

Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition

If your kids enjoy interacting with Alexa, the Echo Dot Kids Edition is a great low-cost gift. Kids can ask Alexa to play music, hear stories, and call approved friends and family. As a Kids Edition product, this Echo Dot comes with a year of FreeTime Unlimited for Alexa, which give them access to more than 1,000 Audible books and thousands of songs, as well as games, podcasts, and alarms voiced by popular characters, such as Sulley from Monsters University, Joy from Inside Out and Olaf from Frozen.

In addition to all of the great content, FreeTime also provides parents with a dashboard to set daily time limits and content ratings (including filtering out all explicit songs) and view how their child is using their device.

For ages 3+

Price: $69.99, on sale for $39.99 on Amazon

Owleez

Your child can teach a cute little baby owl to fly indoors. Owleez is an interactive baby owl that responds to tickling, cuddling, feeding and more with more than 100 sounds and interactions. Kids will be delighted by their owl’s different moods and expressive color-changing eyes!

Owleez is made with durable, lightweight materials enabling her to withstand the inevitable crashes as she learns how to fly. She charges in her nest with the nest's built-in USB cord. While the Owleez charges kids can continue to nurture her and feed her berries (which are included in the box). 

For ages 6+

Price: $34.99 on SpinMaster, check price on Amazon

[Image credit: gift opening gift via BigStockPhoto, LEGO, LeapFrog, Fujifilm, Pai Technology, Mattel, SteelSeries, Razor,  Skyrocket, Amazon, SpinMaster]